With Vidya Balan in the line-up, you expect something unusual. This is one actress who tries something different all the time. She is, like we all know, a hero in the film. Surprisingly in GHANCHAKKAR, she takes the back seat and lets Emraan Hashmi move things forward. Even the credit line has her name coming in after Emraan.

With her playing second fiddle to Emraan, things are bound to get off-balance. But even here, surprisingly, Emraan, perks up his performance, to come out with his best, yet. He plays the Ghanchakkar to the 'T'. His fans are going to have a gala time. Until the end, you do not know whether he is taking the audience for a ride, or the guys he teamed up with for a bank heist.

Sanjay Atre (Emraan) is happily married to Neetu (Vidya). He is a 'safe cracker', and she supports his source of income. After all, she has to pay her monthly subscription of Cosmo, Vogue and Femina and indulge in the latest fashion they have to offer. Her supply of body lotion and face-packs after 'pack up' in the kitchen is what keeps her going, while Sanjay is happy with his Box television. He has plans of buying a Slim LED.

When he gets a call for a bank heist where he stands to earn Rs 10 crore, Neetu wants him to take it on, even though they had decided to put an end to it. But this is one last time, they decide, before they retire.

Pandit (Rajesh Sharma) and Idris (Namit Das) are the two who rope in Sanjay to discuss their modus operandi in their conference room in the first class compartment of a Virar fast. After the heist, Sanjay is asked to keep the booty till things cool down. They will meet three months later to split the loot.

Three months later, however, Sanjay refuses to recognize Pandit and Idris and knows nothing about the money. Is Sanjay playing a dangerous game to keep everything to himself, or has he genuinely lost his memory. Retrograde Amnesia is what he tells them he is suffering from. Selective memory loss. So you are at a loss not knowing whether he is telling the truth or if he has genuinely forgotten.

As the film progresses, the blame shifts to Neetu. Sanjay is convinced she knows where the money is.

Rajkumar Gupta creates the same sort of tension he began with in AAMIR. While he succeeded in keeping his foot on the gas pedal with Rajiv Khandelwal in the lead role, in GHANCHAKKAR, he takes off his foot a bit, before hitting the accelerator yet again.

It's a roller-coaster which not always gives you the adrenaline rush. For one, Namit Das' act is overdone. As the gun wielding psycho, he moves beyond his act, to get annoying. Rajesh Sharma keeps the sanity of his character intact with some amazing facial expressions in key moments.

Now for Vidya Balan. Although different in her act, this one will be easily forgotten. There's no passion of an ISHQIYA, nor the devotion of THE DIRTY PICTURE. There's not even the intensity of a GURU. Her role is simply not etched well. That is a big blow to the film.

Where GHANCHAKKAR falters is in its basic premise - comedy. Only the bank heist with the three masked men manages to elicit a laugh. Towards the end, Gupta veers to the dark world of deceit. That's the confusion.